The Royal Hawaiian and the Rise of Waikiki Tourism, 1901-1929

Paving Paradise: The Rotal Hawaiian and The Rise of Waikiki Tourism, 1901-1929 By Alika Bourgette My memory of the Royal? I recall ordering a scratch mai tai and watching a bead of condensation roll down the side of its glass. The aptly named Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel remains one of my favorite places to enjoy a tropical cocktail. Steps removed from Waikiki Beach, the outdoor bar proves one of the best places to people-watch. Eager tourists line up at kiosks to rent surfboards, schedule catamaran tours, or buy sunscreen. Countless heads bob on the placid water protected from surging swells by a seawall. A sandcastle enthusiast duo excavates the white sand by the wheelbarrow-load to erect a 1:100 scale model of the lost city of Tenochtitlan. Even for locals, Waikiki provides an escape from the mundane. From sacred ritual grounds to world-class resort destination to package-deal paradise, Waikiki has reinvented itself throughout its history. Unique amongst Hawaiian resort experiences, most of which offer privacy and tranquility against breath-taking beaches, Waikiki has an urban soul. Tied to the growth of Honolulu, Waikiki transitioned into a vibrant and modern cityscape in the early twentieth century. While hostelries have sat in the Waikiki sand since 1901 with the opening of the Moana, the 1920s represented the birth of Waikiki as a premier resort locale. The completions of the Ala Wai Ca- nal in 1924 and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1927 sowed the seeds for future growth of the district. This paper will chart the development of Waikiki through study of the two projects, uncovering important figures and events from broader Hawaiian history. It will also analyze popular perception and understanding of Hawaii through the early twentieth century by reviewing advertisements, newspaper and magazine articles, and literary works that revealed often patronizing and romanticized views. The Royal Hawaiian Ho- 103 The Forum tel represented Hawaii’s first modern, world-class resort, paving the way for Waikiki to become a successful tourist destination. Antiquity to Ala Wai: Laying the Infrastructure The popular, present-day image of Waikiki Beach: waving palms against a white, sandy shore looking out toward the lush, green peak of Diamond Head in the distance, would appear unrecognizable to onlookers from a century ago. Waikiki’s name, which translates as “place of spouting water,” harkens back to 1 the artesian springs and flowing streams that used to feed the fertile lands. Prior to the 1920s and the construction of the Ala Wai Canal, the lowlands of Waikiki served as important agricultural grounds, where fishponds and taro fields provided sustenance to the inhabitants of a burgeoning Honolulu. Upon their final approach to shore, new arrivals to Honolulu Harbor passed by the quaint farming lands of Waikiki and saw a fleeting reminder of the island’s 2 past. By the turn of the twentieth century, the city that surrounded Waiki- ki developed into a modern metropolis where streetcars clanged and crowds formed and dissipated with the traffic of daily life. Waikiki, however, carried on as it always had. The broad-leafed taro rustled in the wind, surrounding the country homes where the ruling ali‘i had once vacationed. In the days before modern tourism, Waikiki had already become recognized as a place for relax- ation and enjoyment. At Helumoa, the present-day site of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, sat the Royal Palm Garden, a collection of over 10,000 coconut palms that found its or- igins in the antiquity period of Hawaiian History. The grove had religious importance to early Native Hawaiians, who had constructed heiaus (temples) on the land, and made the land accessible only to the high-ranking chiefs of Oahu. Upon his unification of the Hawaiian Islands in 1810, King Kame- 1 Masakazu Ejiri, “Development of Waikiki, 1900-1949: The Formative Period in American Resort Para- dise” (PhD. diss., University of Hawaii, 1996), 20. 2 Robert L. Wiegel, “Waikiki Beach, Oahu, Hawaii: History of Its Transformation From a Natural to an Urban Shore,”Shore and Beach 76 (Spring 2008), 3. 104 Alika Bourgette 3 hameha I selected Helumoa as his administrative center on the island. After Kamehameha I’s reign, Helumoa fell out of religious use, but remained a royal residence for his descendants. Access to fresh water and a secluded beach, along with the shade and privacy afforded by the Royal Palm Garden made Helumoa a favorite retreat for Hawaii’s rulers, who had relocated official res- 4 idence into Honolulu proper. King Kamehameha V (1863-1872) developed the parcel that would become the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for his personal use. The land today remains held in trust by the estate of Princess Bernice Pauahi 5 Bishop, one of the largest and wealthiest land-holding trusts in Hawaii . Before Waikiki could begin its transformation from underdeveloped, private retreat for royalty to premium resort locale for the merely wealthy, the land had to be reshaped to this purpose. The ‘spouting waters’ of Waikiki rendered its soils saturated and prone to flooding. The streams that fed the Waikiki with fresh water also carried silt and alluvium from the nearby mountains into the wetlands and out to the sea. The first decades of the twentieth century brought increased development to the area, which interrupted the natural processes of erosion and water flow. The construction of Kalakaua Avenue and the first Waikiki resorts, including the Moana and the Seaside between 1901 and 1906, resulted in the disruption of natural drainage of freshwater 6 to the ocean. As a result, the streams that fed Waikiki became stagnant and filled with silt. The muck that filled the wetlands surrounding the first Waikiki resorts fomented unsanitary conditions. In 1913, the seepage of fetid water reached the shores of the Moana Hotel, sparking tourists’ disgust and protest. According to an account in the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, one resort patron demanded, “something be done to prevent a future display of river sweepings in what has been advertised as one of the most romantic and perfect tempered 3 Andrea Feeser and Gaye Chan, Waikiki: A History of Forgetting and Remembering (University of Hawaii Press, 2007), 65. 4 Ejiri, 75. 5 Feeser and Chan, 66. 6 Wiegel, 6. 105 The Forum 7 bathing places in the world.” That something came in the form of the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal in 1921. The construction of the Ala Wai Canal allowed for the reclamation of Waiki- ki, paving the way for the area to become a successful resort destination. Two men helped shape the creation of the canal, Lucius Eugene Pinkham, Gov- ernor of the Territory of Hawaii from 1913-1918, and Walter Francis Dill- ingham, owner of the Hawaiian Dredging Company. On February 21, 1906, Pinkham, President of the Board of Health, announced his plan, stating that the wetlands were “incapable of drainage” and “in an unsanitary and danger- 8 ous condition.” However, from plan’s onset, Waikiki residents understood the true nature of the dredging project. The creation of the canal would dry the taro farms and fishponds along the coast and imperil their livelihood. Further- more, Pinkham’s plan included the introduction of a grid pattern to Waikiki that could incorporate building sites for real property. Of the redevelopment, Pinkham stated, “In making my plan, I merely suggested to [the City Sur- veyor] that we put in streets, connecting up the roads, and this was done, but without the idea that the plan as drawn was an arbitrary one. I believe the land 9 could be sold, perhaps to newcomers. Anyway, it is going to be a go.” With that, Pinkham revealed his true intention for Waikiki to shed its provincial status as a reminder of Oahu’s agrarian past. The inception of the Ala Wai Ca- nal allowed for the incorporation of Waikiki into the modern city of Honolulu as its premier resort district. Once planned, initiating the groundwork for the Ala Wai Canal proved challenging. Appointed Territory Governor of Hawaii by President Wood- row Wilson in 1913, Pinkham finally gained the political authority necessary to enact his plan. Having worked longtime for the Oahu Railway and Land Company and Pacific Hardware, both Dillingham-owned firms, it followed 7 “Sluiced Lagoon Water into Waikiki Water and Drove Fair Bathers Away,” The Pacific Commercial Adver- tiser. February 16, 1913, 9, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. 8 “Pinkham Plans the Reclamation of All Waikiki,” Evening Bulletin. February 21, 1906, 1, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. 9 “Pinkham Plan to Reclaim Waikiki to be Tried,” The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. March 16, 1906, 5, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. 106 Alika Bourgette that Pinkham awarded the Ala Wai Canal contract to his friend Walter Fran- 10 cis Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company. The canal would run a two- mile stretch roughly parallel with the coast, capturing the drainage of Waiki- ki’s streams, carrying the water to the ocean at Ala Wai Harbor. Pinkham secured the land necessary to begin dredging through eminent domain. When dredging began in 1921, the families displaced by the project refused to vacate 11 their land, with some remaining until dredging crews arrived at their door. The soils dredged from the canal served as filling material for the wetlands on either side. In this way, Dillingham’s Hawaiian Dredging Company converted 12 687 acres of wet agricultural land into a space suitable for real estate. Dillingham enacted Pinkham’s vision of creating a canal that would form a focal point for tourism in Hawaii.

Load more